Daniel Webster

Maryland was one of the few places to enact meaningful gun control laws after the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings. Credit is shared by many (notably including 1988 Marylander of the Year Vincent DeMarco), but the person responsible for the policy underpinnings of the new law was unquestionably Johns Hopkins professor Daniel Webster. It was his research that led to the state's new licensing system for handgun buyers, a part of the law aimed not just at reducing rare tragedies like mass shootings but at reducing the everyday toll of gun violence in the streets of places like Baltimore. Gun control policy tends to be dominated by emotion and ideology. Mr. Webster has become a leader by approaching the debate with data and reason. If the nation ever follows Maryland's lead in enacting sensible gun laws, it will owe much to his work.

Maryland was one of the few places to enact meaningful gun control laws after the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings. Credit is shared by many (notably including 1988 Marylander of the Year Vincent DeMarco), but the person responsible for the policy underpinnings of the new law was unquestionably Johns Hopkins professor Daniel Webster. It was his research that led to the state's new licensing system for handgun buyers, a part of the law aimed not just at reducing rare tragedies like mass shootings but at reducing the everyday toll of gun violence in the streets of places like Baltimore. Gun control policy tends to be dominated by emotion and ideology. Mr. Webster has become a leader by approaching the debate with data and reason. If the nation ever follows Maryland's lead in enacting sensible gun laws, it will owe much to his work. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun)

Maryland was one of the few places to enact meaningful gun control laws after the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings. Credit is shared by many (notably including 1988 Marylander of the Year Vincent DeMarco), but the person responsible for the policy underpinnings of the new law was unquestionably Johns Hopkins professor Daniel Webster. It was his research that led to the state's new licensing system for handgun buyers, a part of the law aimed not just at reducing rare tragedies like mass shootings but at reducing the everyday toll of gun violence in the streets of places like Baltimore. Gun control policy tends to be dominated by emotion and ideology. Mr. Webster has become a leader by approaching the debate with data and reason. If the nation ever follows Maryland's lead in enacting sensible gun laws, it will owe much to his work.Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun